1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to connecting a folder or hard drive on a personal computing device to a public cloud service for the purpose of sharing digital content such as songs, pictures, videos, documents and other digital content, negating the need to upload the digital content to the public cloud.
2. Related Art
The devices, features, and functions described herein are intended to disclose a method to allow a folder hosted on a local device such as a personal computer or other smart-type device to be digitally associated with, or “pinned or tacked” to a public cloud service. Unlike existing “Network Attached Storage” (NAS) or “Personal Cloud Devices” (PCD), there is no hardware requirement beyond the use of a computer, smartphone or other computing device capable of accessing a public cloud service on the Internet. While NAS and PCD-type devices exist within the prior art, they rely on expensive hardware, firmware and other device-centric components to establish the network connectivity and enable a user to connect and share digital content (files, folders, videos, songs, pictures, etc.) through a public or private cloud service.
The Pervasive Intermediate NAS application (PINApp) described herein addresses the need for an efficient, cost effective and simple way for users to store and share their digital content using public cloud services, without the requirement to upload their digital content to the public cloud, and without the requirement to purchase an expensive NAS or PCD. Further, the PINApp negates the need for expensive cloud storage service subscription plans because digital content is stored on the user owned/managed device and not on the public cloud.
The PINApp creates a digital environment wherein a user can store their digital content on a device they own (computer, smartphone, tablet, etc.) and both access and share that digital content through a public cloud service without the need to upload the digital content to the cloud.
By allowing users to share their digital content without the need to upload it to the public cloud, the PINApp negates the need for expensive cloud storage subscription services. Further, the PINApp eliminates the need for a personal appliance such as a PCD or NAS device (such as a WESTERN DIGITAL “My Cloud”) as the functional aspects of the NAS are hosted within the PINApp contained on the owner device (computer, smartphone, tablet, etc.) provided by the digital content owner. The PINApp significantly reduces the cost associated with storing and sharing digital content in the public cloud.
In one preferred embodiment, the PINApp enables the user to select a folder on a local computing device (such as a tablet, smartphone, pc or other) that can be associated digitally with a public cloud storage service. This “pinning or tacking” of a locally hosted folder to a public cloud allows the PINApp to utilize a user's existing cloud service provider to share digital content with recipients. By allowing a folder to be pinned or tacked to a public cloud service (like DROPBOX or STOAMIGO), more users can access and share digital content, while negating the need to subscribe to expensive cloud storage service contracts, or worry about the fee's associated with storage space in the cloud. Further, by pinning or tacking a folder that is physically located on the device owned by the user and not by the cloud provider, the digital content remains private, protected and in the direct control of the owner of the digital content, and not in the control of the cloud service provider.
The PINApp allows the user device to act as a NAS device, wherein digital content can be stored “off-cloud”. This enhances the privacy and security aspects of the user digital content because it is not being hosted on a public cloud or server farm. Even if a user pins or tacks a folder to a public cloud service and shares the content of, or the entire folder with one or more recipients, the digital content remains on the user device in the sequestered NAS storage portion and is not uploaded to the public cloud, unless the user wishes to do so.
Prior art systems do not lend themselves to portability and do not address the need for a digital solution to enable sharing of digital content through public cloud services, without uploading the digital content to the specified public cloud service. Further, existing NAS-type devices are large, expensive and out of the financial reach of many cloud users. The PINApp negates the need for these physical NAS-type devices, while enabling digital content to be pinned or tacked from a local user device (such as a personal computer, smartphone or tablet) directly to the public cloud, protecting and restricting access to the digital content by others, while allowing the digital content owner to share with family and friends.
The PINApp can also be used as a unification software tool to allow one existing cloud storage service (DROPBOX as an example) to be pinned or tacked directly to another (such as STOAMIGO). The unification of these separate services would take place through the PINApp, utilizing a series of digitally associated folders. While the cloud storage services are entirely separate and managed independently, the PINApp can be utilized to unify two or more services for a user within their personal device(s). This would enable a user to (as an example) share a Google Drive folder or file with a Google Drive user, from STOAMIGO's file storage and sharing platform.
The PINApp allows a user to select a “primary” and “secondary” public cloud service, wherein the user interface and command set of the primary public cloud service would be utilized to manage the digital content. The secondary public cloud service would appear in the primary public cloud service user interface screen as a folder, hosted within the primary public cloud service.
The PINApp utilizes the public API (Application Program Interface) provided by the public cloud storage services to enable digital content to easily be managed between two or more separate services from a user owned and managed device, such as a personal computer, laptop, smartphone or other smart-type computing device. The PINApp bridges the gap between the services, allowing the management of digital content to take place.
From the discussion that follows, it will become apparent that the present invention addresses the deficiencies associated with the prior art while providing additional advantages and benefits not contemplated or possible with prior art constructions.